HYDERABAD: The three-month long India’s longest performing Arts Festival, the fifth edition of “Hyderabad Arts Festival” being organised for the past four seasons to celebrate the spirit of Hyderabad is back with bang with its latest edition.
The festival which took birth in 2012 as a result of a trio – a Hyderabadi, a Keralite and a Tamilian, for the love of the city has become India’s longest performing arts festival now.
This year too like in the past, the organisers – A.V. Ramakrishna from Hyderabad, CS Manoj from Kerala and Capt. Anand from Chennai, who made Hyderabad their home - lined up impressive non-ticketed events to be held at different venues across the city for next three months.
HAF is a part of the Happening Hyderabad initiative of the Telangana government and has support from the Government of Telangana and many other organisations.
Hyderabad has 400 years of rich cultural heritage. It has been projected as the Global City. It played host to many luminaries like Bill Clinton, George Bush, Kofi Annan, Bill Gates and many others. HAF wants to contribute to this aspect by organizing good events in its annual festival that runs for 3 long months every year.
The HAF Season 5 festival formally kicked off with a curtain raiser event of Sufi & Ghazals by Pooja Gaitonde recently at the Chowmahalla palace. The main events of HAF Season 5 starts from May 20 and continues till July 22. Some of the highlights of this season unlike in the past four seasons are artists like Padma Vibhushan Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia on flute, Padma Bhushan Raja Radha Reddy with their dance ballet, Pt. Niladri Kumar on Sitar, Euphoria Band, and such artists performing in HAF Season 5.
The organisers have also planned a mega felicitation of the living legend Padma Vibhushan Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia on the day of his performance. A signature event “HAF Smiles” for the underprivileged kids will also be held. This year another new genre will be introduced in HAF Season 5 – stand up comedy.
HAF is roping in Euphoria band on May 20. This band of boys brought in the wave of the rock band concept and stole hearts of millions. Euphoria like its name has been creating Euphoria in the music industry from a very long time. With their quirky beats and sweet lyriced songs, Euphoria has always been a favorite among all age groups.
On May 27, HAF will bring in Fusion Music Concert by Purbayan Chatterjee, Mahalakshmi Iyer, Ojas Adhiya and Sanjoy Das.
For the schedule, see www.hyderabadartsfestival.com